Looking for Help Grapple Shopping

DieselBound · Jun 2, 2017

Keep in mind that there's the fulcrum effect to consider. You won't be able to lift the difference between spec numbers and the grapple weight as your load will always be out farther than the distances that lift capacity specs go by. It may be obvious, but I felt it needed to be pointed out.

Hey Travis, care to dig out my stump picture? Yeah, I'm a single lid, but the point would be that there's no way I'd have picked up; that stump like that with an 1,000 lb grapple!

And... the type of material matters as much/more so than weight. If strength were based solely on weight then a lead grapple would excel!

Mackdaddy9269 · Jun 2, 2017

Thanks again for the posts fellas. I've got a custom ballast box in the works. I was going to order one from Titan Attachments as theirs says it holds around 800 pounds, however I'd like the box to do more for me than just be a dead weight ballast. I know there are some out there that have slots & spaces to hold some tools, rakes & such, but I think I'm going to get creative......yes, you better sit down for this & maybe even hold my beer.....have a ballast box that will hold a saw or a slot on a side for one, chain, pry bar, other necessary tools, and have a lid to keep the stuff out of the elements for when it's left out overnight at the property I'll be working on.

I think a lot of what guys have built looks great and it's very functional, but I don't know if I want to put that stuff in different spots on the tractor or on the outside where it might get dinged up. I admittedly was initially looking to big (width & weight) thinking of what I wanted/needed. Bigger is not always better & I'm understanding that. I've looked at one tractor with a complete undercarriage skid plate. That is probably more than what I'm thinking but I'm considering building something similar, or building multiple guards for the undercarriage in addition to a new enhance brush/grill guard.

My dad has a back blade he doesn't use. I think it's a Land Pride and believe it's 72" wide that he said I could just have since he got it with his tractor 2007 55hp New Holland Shuttle Shift. I'll use this I'm sure for dirt work, but when I referred to pushing I meant for the FEL (and hopefully future front blade) using it to push snow, pile snow, and move snow. The ballast will help with loader bucket/grapple work, but I don't want to over do that or the front axle and have a couple thousand dollar lesson to be learned.

DieselBound · Jun 2, 2017

I'll soon be adding 1,200 lbs of ballast to the rear of my Kioti, in the form of a box blade: tires are ballasted; this alone seems to hold the tractor even when the bucket is filled with material, though you can feel that the rear is starting to get a little light. I have used a box blade (on my B7800) to carry stuff: reversed the scarifiers and dropped in some plywood, which cradled by the mold board in back, made for a nice pocket/shelf).

Just sold a 6' back blade that I'd picked up several years ago along with my 5' box blade (was after the box blade). I never really used the back blade. Not a lot of weight (especially in a smaller blade) to do much with anything other than really loose material; and, not very effective as ballast (sticks out too far too).

EverythingAttachments · Jun 2, 2017

DieselBound said:
Keep in mind that there's the fulcrum effect to consider. You won't be able to lift the difference between spec numbers and the grapple weight as your load will always be out farther than the distances that lift capacity specs go by. It may be obvious, but I felt it needed to be pointed out.

Hey Travis, care to dig out my stump picture? Yeah, I'm a single lid, but the point would be that there's no way I'd have picked up; that stump like that with an 1,000 lb grapple!

You know I'd love to! :thumbsup:

Here's an L3800 with the same grapple doing something similar.

DieselBound said:
And... the type of material matters as much/more so than weight. If strength were based solely on weight then a lead grapple would excel!

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

DieselBound · Jun 2, 2017

But, BUT... that Kubota has extra ballast in the rear (box blade)! :laughing:

EverythingAttachments · Jun 2, 2017

DieselBound said:
But, BUT... that Kubota has extra ballast in the rear (box blade)! :laughing:

:laughing: :laughing: And...and....your unballasted Kioti outweighs it by about 2,000 pounds! :laughing:
Travis

DieselBound · Jun 2, 2017

EverythingAttachments said:
:laughing: :laughing: And...and....your unballasted Kioti outweighs it by about 2,000 pounds! :laughing:
Travis

And I'm stringing up a very HEAVY, WET maple stump (with a bunch of wet dirt still stuck to it)! Trust me, I really could have used some added ballast!:thumbsup:

Cataclysm · Jun 2, 2017

Mackdaddy9269 said:
Thanks again for the posts fellas. I've got a custom ballast box in the works. I was going to order one from Titan Attachments as theirs says it holds around 800 pounds, however I'd like the box to do more for me than just be a dead weight ballast. I know there are some out there that have slots & spaces to hold some tools, rakes & such, but I think I'm going to get creative......yes, you better sit down for this & maybe even hold my beer.....have a ballast box that will hold a saw or a slot on a side for one, chain, pry bar, other necessary tools, and have a lid to keep the stuff out of the elements for when it's left out overnight at the property I'll be working on.

I think a lot of what guys have built looks great and it's very functional, but I don't know if I want to put that stuff in different spots on the tractor or on the outside where it might get dinged up. I admittedly was initially looking to big (width & weight) thinking of what I wanted/needed. Bigger is not always better & I'm understanding that. I've looked at one tractor with a complete undercarriage skid plate. That is probably more than what I'm thinking but I'm considering building something similar, or building multiple guards for the undercarriage in addition to a new enhance brush/grill guard.

My dad has a back blade he doesn't use. I think it's a Land Pride and believe it's 72" wide that he said I could just have since he got it with his tractor 2007 55hp New Holland Shuttle Shift. I'll use this I'm sure for dirt work, but when I referred to pushing I meant for the FEL (and hopefully future front blade) using it to push snow, pile snow, and move snow. The ballast will help with loader bucket/grapple work, but I don't want to over do that or the front axle and have a couple thousand dollar lesson to be learned.

A ballast box is a great idea and there are some self built works of art on here.

Thinking outside the box again and thinking multi-use here. I built a metal rack on top of my BB (box blade) to carry tools on. I put a metal mesh floor so the dirt falls through and you can see through it when running the BB. I bought a used aluminum pickup tool box for cheap at a garage sale. I put all my fencing supplies in the tool box and can set it on and off when I go do fencing. I just set the tool box off on a couple of boards in the yard when I'm not using it. It keeps all the stuff dry. No need to store it inside.

EverythingAttachments · Jun 2, 2017

DieselBound said:
And I'm stringing up a very HEAVY, WET maple stump (with a bunch of wet dirt still stuck to it)! Trust me, I really could have used some added ballast!:thumbsup:

Good point. I can see all the sticky dirt still hangin on vs. the Kubota with a dry stump!!
Travis

Msamt · Jun 2, 2017

Ballast is absolutely your friend, I made a barrel type that weighs around 950 lbs and even with loaded tires I can tell an extreme difference without it.

As to a grapple, I'm a cheapskate, and I found a new 66" single lid from Versatech at an auction, feel like I stole it for $800. Not sure the weight, likely around 400 lbs, but well suited to my DK45.
I find picking up things, roots, rocks and brush to be easy with the single lid, just be careful not to try to put too much into it, the rocks that I have dug out and lifted are truly amazing...but some were just stupid heavy.

For the grill protection (how I never put anything through my radiator without protection is a mystery) I tacked in some expanded metal to the grill guard, I'm a crappy welder so it's already come loose, that fix is next with some angle iron and better welds.